Sandy Spring Bank Raises Stock Holdings in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI)

Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in S&P Global Inc. (NYSE:SPGI) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,089 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in S&P Global were worth $6,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 11.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 871,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $450,280,000 after purchasing an additional 92,115 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 3.2% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 911 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 208.8% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 45,371 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,440,000 after purchasing an additional 30,679 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 2.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of S&P Global by 18.4% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 450 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.17% of the company’s stock.

S&P Global Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SPGI opened at $495.40 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. S&P Global Inc. has a 52-week low of $407.69 and a 52-week high of $545.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $513.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $510.62. The company has a market capitalization of $152.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The business services provider reported $3.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.36. S&P Global had a return on equity of 14.33% and a net margin of 27.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that S&P Global Inc. will post 17.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

S&P Global Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.96 dividend. This is an increase from S&P Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. S&P Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SPGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on S&P Global from $617.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on S&P Global from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on S&P Global from $590.00 to $580.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on S&P Global from $576.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered S&P Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, S&P Global presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $590.86.

S&P Global Profile

S&P Global, Inc engages in the provision of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics, and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. It operates through the following segments: Market Intelligence, Ratings, Commodity Insights, Mobility, Indices, and Engineering Solutions.